Improvement in apparatus for making wrought-iron direct from the ore



' UNITED STATES PATENTv OFFICE.

JAMEs nENroN, or NEWARK, NEW JEnsEY.

IMPROVEMENT IN APPARATUS FOR VMAKING WROUGHT-IRON DIRECT FRM THE ORE.

Specification-formling part of Letters Patent No. 8,613, dated December 23, 1551.

To azZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES BENTON, of Newark, New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatusfor Making Wrought-Iron Direct from the Ore; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, andexact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part ofthis specidcation, in whicht -Figure'l is va side elevation of my improved apparatus, with the side wall of the stack re moved to exhibit the internal arrangement. Fig. 2 is a-longitudinal vertical section;` Fig.V

3,-a horizontal sectlon taken at the line. A a of Fig. 2; Fig. 4, a cross vertical section taken.

at the red line B b of Fig. 2; Fig. 5,ahorizon tal section at C c vof Fig. 2.

The same letters indicate like .parts in all the figures.

My invention is of improvements on the apparatus for makingwronght-irondirect from the'ore, as described in Letters Patent granted to Alex. Dickerson on theI 22d of July, 1850. In the said apparatusof the'said Dickerson the ore is deoxidized in an annular chamber' formed between two concentric cylinders placed over the working-bottom of a puddii-ng or reverberating furnace, onto which the ore is discharged after it hasbcenl deoxidized, the heate'dproducts of combustion from thefnrnace being-carried up throughthe central tube and around onthe outside of the deoxidizing'an'nular chamber. This apparatus is attended with several serious practical diiiiculties'. In the making of iron according to this method it is of the rst importance that the products of the combustion and atmospheric air be excluded from the chamber .containing the ore that is being deoxidized, as will be obvious tothe iron-master; vand it is also important that the lower part rof the deoxidizing-chamber be protected from the very intense heat whichis generated at or directly over theworking or puddling bottom; and it is also important that the ore when deoxidized be freely discharged onto the workingbottom, as required, and without permitting the entrance to the chamber ofthe products of com bustion. In the apparatus of the said Dickerson there is no adequate provision for meeting the requirements above enumerated. The deoxidizing chamber beingl an annulus surrounding the central llue, there is no practical mode of combining therewith inclined planes to conduct the deoxidize'd ore to the workingbottom, which will not impede the passage of the productsof combustion to the central flue, and in consequence of this he has been compelled in practice to place the deoxidizingchamber and its inner and exterior line directly over the working-bottom, with holes governed by Stoppers in the bottom for the discharge of the ore and to exclude air and the gaseous products of combustion. This exI poses the lower part of the deoxidizing-chamber land the Stoppers or valves for governing the discharge of the ore and for regulating the draft to a heat so intense as to destroy them ina short time, while at the same time the heat is not equally and economically ap pliedV to the deoxidizing-chamber, as indicated above. p

The object of my invention is to overcome the defects of the apparatus described in the said Dickerson .patent and t'o meet the requirements above indicated; and to these ends v the nature of the first part of my invention consists in' arranging in a vertical stack aseries vof dat tubes, (or aseries of small tubes areiectually protecting the lower part of 'the deoxidizing-tubes from the too intense heat, protectingthe ore from the action of the products of combustion while being deoxidized, affording an easy means ot discharging the deoxidized or'e onto the working or pnddling4 bottom, while the products of combustion can be readily carried to and around the whole series of tubes to act on the entire surface of each and every one of the series equally and economically.

My invention also consists in combining with each of the dat deoxidizing-tubes a doub1eand c the puddling or working bottom.

inclined plane, arranged near the lower end thereof and in the middle, for the purpose of causing the entire charge of ore in each tube to descend equall'y,instead of descending more rapidly in the middle than at the sides; and my invention also consists in combining with, the deoXidiziug-tubes and orebox a series lof stationary and a series of movable inclined planes for the purpose of regulating the delivery of the deoxidized ore from the tubes onto the working-bottom.

In the accompanying drawings, c represents a reverberatory furnace of the usual construction, in which b represents the .preparatory At the rear end there is a stack, (Lin which is arranged a series `of iiat vertical tubes, e, called the "deoXidizing-tubes. These tubes are made of iron. (I do not limit myself to the use of this kind of metal.) They are connected together at top by a plate which forms the bottom of a feeding-trough from which the ore is supplied to the tubes. If desired, the tubes may be provided with movable cov ers at top; but this is not indispensable. l At the bottoni the tubes are also connected together by another plate, which forms the top of what I denominate the ore-box, h.' The vspaces between the tubes and aroundthem must be sufficient for the free passage of the A heated products of combustion by which they are heated. The front and back plates of the l ore-box incline inward toward each other, andy v lower end of the spout g passes through a hole in a plate, a', which'is a continuation of the roof of the furnace, so that the products of combustion from the furnace pass under this plate into a iiue, b', which extends around the rear end of a plate .or wall, c', and then up around a casing, d, which surrounds the ore-box, leaving a space or dead-work, e', to

protect the ore-box from the intense heat. The products of combustion then pass around and among the tubes and act on the entire surface of each and every tube of the series, and then escape through the iiue 7c, near the bottom of the stack d, into' a chimney, j', the flue /c being provided with a damper, Z. There is a vertical wall, m', which closes up the space fromthe bottom between that side of the stack d through which the flue 7c passes and the first of the series of tubes to prevent the products of combustion from passing directly to the ue If the damper Z of the flue 7c be closed, the products of combustion, instead of passing into the stack d, will be made to escape through a flue, m, directly into middle.

the chimney. This i'luem should also be pro-l vided with a damper, which is to be closed when the deoxidizing-tubes are to be heated. The dead-work g below eshould be extended to the wall of the stack d, to prevent the products of combustion from passing directly to the'iiue 7c, and to cause them to pass around in theilue b', and thence up in the stack to vheat the deoxidizing tubes before they escape through the flue 7.: into the chimney j.

Each deoxidizing-tube e is provided with a double-inclined plane, h', at or near the lower end, the two inclined surfaces meeting in the This reduces the capacity of the lower end of the tube, kwhere the ore is dis-4 charged after it has been deoxidized, and presents an impediment to the discharge from the middle of the tube, and thus causes the wholev charge of ore in the stack to descend equally., \Vithout this double-inclinedA plane the ore in the middle of the tube would descend more rapidly than at the sides, so lthat either the oreat and near thel edges would remain too long in the tubes, or the part of the charge at and nearthe middle would be discharged be fore being properly deoxidized.

1n the middle ofthe series of deoxidizingtubes, and below them, are two inclined planes, ff, connected together at their upper ends and vattached to the plate of the ore-boX, to which the lower ends of the tubes are secured. These two planes incline outward from each other and toward the two inclined plates of theore'box, thus together forming guides for the deoXidzed ore as it is discharged from the tubes, and forming two throats for the passage of the ore to the spout g,- and in addition to this there is aseries of adjustable planes, f, one for each tube and attached by one edge to a spindle, 13', which turns in appropriate 'supports in the masonry,'and one end of which extends outside of the stack, and is there provided with a handle k. There is one of these radjustable planes for each tube,.and with its rod along one edge of the delivery-aperture ofv its appropriate tube, and when partly opened, as represented in Fig. 2, they form planes of opposite inclination to the front and another to the back of the ore-box, and one to each of the planes f By changing the inclination of the movable planes f the discharge of the ore from the tubes can be governed at pleasure, and, if desired, entirely stopped. By the combination of all the planes it will be seen that an equal discharge of ore from each tube can be secured; but without them more ore would be discharged from the tubes farthest from the sides of the box. v

Fire being made in the-furnace inthe usual manner, the ore, properly reduced in size by grinding or otherwise, is put into the feedingtrough at the top of the stack d, from which the tubes c are filled. The products of combustion from the furnace passing around and among the seriesof tubes heat the ore therein and keep it exposed to the requiredtemperature to deoXdize it. The tubes, being flat, expose the ore to the action of the heat in thin vertical strata exposed on all sides, so that'it can be deoxidized with the greatest economy. At the commencement of the operation the adjustable inclined planes are thrown up to keep the ore in the tubes until a sufficient quantity near the lower end of the tubes 'has been. de'oxidized, and then the lower ends of the tubes are opened to permit the ore to descend by gravity into the ore-box, and thence through the spout onto the preparatory bottom, from which it is at theproper time transferred by the opera tire to the working bottom to be worked into on the deoxidized ore is descending onto thepreparatory bottom and fresh ore continues to be supplied to the 'deoxiz'iding-tubes at top. In. this way the process of making iron direct from the ore can be continued for any desired length of time. After the ore has been deoxidized it isy transferred to the puddle or finishing operation withoutlosing any portionof the heat which it has received, and during the whole of the dcoxidizing operation it is effectually protected from the injurious presence of atmospheric air and the products of the combustion, while at the same time itis free to pass from the deoxidizingtubes when in a proper condition. The waste heat from the puddling or other furnace is made available for preparing the ore for the final process of being reduced to the metallicstate,while at the same time the deoxidizing part of the apparatus is eilectually protected from the destructive action ofthe intense heat which must be employed for the final reduction of the ore to the sta-tc of wrought-iron, whether by the process of puddling or otherwise.

Instead of the iiat tubes I have contemplated using, a series of round tubes may be substituted for each fiat one, thus having rows of lseries of tubes; but I prefer the use of at tubes, as abovedescribed. I have also contemplated makingthe iiat tubes of corrugated metal to'increase the amount of surface to be exposed to the action of the heat; and I have also contemplated coating the exterior of the tubes with fire-clay or with other refractory earthy substance, but so far I have found the metal surface to be sufficiently durable for a good practical and economical result.

I do not wish to limit myself to the use of a puddling-furnace for the final operation; nor to the use of mineral coal, as the same result in kind may be produced by a bloomf-,ryn

What I claim as my invention7 and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The arrangement of aseries of fiat vertical tubes (or the equivalent thereof) in a vertical stack, substantially as described, when these are combined with a puddling or other furnace, substantially as described, by means of Aan interposed ore-box, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. Combining with each of the deoxodizingtubes, as described, and at the middle and near the lower end thereof, a double-inclined plane, substantially as described, to insure the equal descent of the charge of ore, as described.

3. In combination with the series of deoxidizing-tubes and the ore-box, substantially as described, the employment of a series of stationary and a series of adjustable inclined planes, substantially as described, to regulate and insure the equal discharge of the ore from each and from the whole series of tubes, as described.

JAS. RENTON.

Witnesses:

WM. H. BIsHor, CHARLES N. BAMBURGH. 

